Following the success of the 2016 pilot, NHS England invited GP practices to apply for funding to help recruit, train and develop more clinical pharmacists to meet its GP Forward View commitment of an extra 1,500 clinical pharmacists in general practice by 2020/21 with a £100m investment.

The pilot phase of the scheme, which launched in July 2015, affected around 650 practices.

NHS England, in a statement on its website, said: ‘The second wave of applications for the clinical pharmacy roll out programme has been assessed and with those announced in the first wave over 1061 practices, covering nearly 18.5 million patients, will benefit from the skill mix and knowledge that clinical pharmacists bring to general practice.’

The deadline for the third wave of applications is 29 September 2017. The latest list is ‘subject to change’, NHS England added.